


No Clouds

by Dolimir



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-07
Updated: 2011-06-07
Packaged: 2017-10-20 05:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/209123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dolimir/pseuds/Dolimir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Dean isn't in Detroit the day the world effectively ends, with Sam at the epicenter. But Castiel is.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	No Clouds

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2010 Written for SPN_Summergen challenge.
> 
> Recipient: Caerial
> 
> Betas: Runriggers and Aithine

“Please, Cas.”

Castiel rolled his head back onto his shoulders and lost himself for a moment in the blueness of the sky above him. The world was ending. Shouldn’t there be at least a few clouds in the sky?

“I don't know what you think I can do, Dean.” He lowered his head and focused his gaze on his friend. “I'm all but cut off from heaven’s grace.”

“Just…be with him.”

Castiel blinked, unable to comprehend what Dean was asking of him.

“I’d go--”

“It’s too dangerous,” Castiel interjected quickly.

“So everyone says.” Dean lifted his hands and rubbed his face, a poor attempt to cover the emotions bubbling up from within him. “But I can’t let him walk into this alone, Cas. I just can’t.”

“So you wish for me to walk by his side?”

“Please. You’re the only one who has any sort of shot of pulling him out if things get too dicey.”

Snorting once, humorlessly, Castiel shook his head. “Chances are that Lucifer will kill me on sight.”

Dean studied his face for a moment. “Were you expecting to survive the apocalypse?”

A small smile appeared on Castiel’s lips. “No, not really.”

“Then does it matter?”

“I suppose not.”

Looking at the sky once again, Castiel thought he might feel a little better about his situation if there were at least a few clouds.

 

*-*-*-*

 

“You have the rings?”

“Yes.” Castiel studied Sam’s profile as the young man looked down the alleyway toward where Bobby Singer was hidden.

Castiel had spent an eternity thinking that Lucifer’s true vessel would be evil in every sense of the word, so discovering that Sam Winchester held the unlucky ticket had surprised him. It was true the boy had anger issues, but he was essentially a good man, trying to do the best he could in a situation supremely beyond his control. He had been shaped by destiny and honed by angels and demons alike.

And in that moment, Castiel knew Sam would lose his battle with the Morningstar.

It wasn’t that Sam didn’t want to succeed, he did. Castiel knew he did. Sam was strong physically, but emotionally he didn’t stand a chance. And while he was doing better on the spiritual front than Castiel was, the angel knew it wouldn’t be enough. How was this human babe going to take on an archangel, one who had been plotting his revenge against his brethren for a millennium?

He couldn’t.

Castiel wanted to shove Sam back into the car, wanted to drive as fast as he could out of Detroit.

But he knew Sam wouldn’t leave willingly.

“Demons.” Bobby reported as soon as he was in speaking distance of them. “At least two dozen of them. Dean was right. Something’s happening here.”

“More than something,” Sam said softly. “He’s here.”

Castiel knew in that moment that the only option he had was to fulfill Dean’s wish by standing beside his brother as he fell.

 

*-*-*-*

 

“Hey guys, so nice of you to drop in.” Lucifer completed the finishing touches of the pitchfork he was drawing in the frost on the window before he turned to face them. “Sorry it’s a bit chilly. Most people…” His eyes widened ever-so-slightly as his gaze fell upon Castiel.

Lucifer took a step forward so that he was standing in front of Castiel and Sam. He looked back and forth between them before his gaze finally settled on Castiel. “What an odd creature you are, Castiel. Did you arrive in a vehicle again?”

Castiel swallowed once, although his eyes never left his brother’s face. “I did.”

Lucifer looked momentarily confused.

“It grows on you.” Castiel shrugged his shoulders, preparing himself to be smote.

“Can we get back to the business at hand?” Sam asked with obvious irritation. “I came to say yes.”

 

*-*-*-*

 

After the light faded, Castiel frantically looked around the room and saw that both Sam and Nick were lying on the floor. While Sam’s body was still, Castiel had no doubt that he was in mortal combat for his soul.

Pulling the rings out of his pocket, Castiel threw them against the closest wall and spoke the evocation that would open Lucifer’s cage.

The wall crumbled inward, revealing a vast nothingness. For a split second, as he looked into the abyss, he understood why Lucifer’s anger hadn’t abated. There was no grace, no mercy in his cell, but the thought quickly disappeared as hurricane winds blew through the room, making it difficult for him to maintain an upright position.

Sam groaned on the floor beside him and Castiel felt his heart beating in his throat, unsure of who was awakening.

“Sam?”

Sam cried out. “Cas, I can feel him. Oh, God!”

Castiel ran to Sam’s side and helped him to his feet, facing him toward the opening. “You have to go, Sam. Now.”

Sam nodded and staggered toward the opening, but stopped before he reached the edge. When he turned, there was a smug smile on his face, a smugness that he knew didn’t belong to the youngest Winchester.

“I was just messing with you, Castiel. You didn’t really think it would be that easy, did you?”

Castiel shook his head. “No, I didn’t think it would be easy.”

“Then why are you here?”

“To be by his side as he fell.”

Lucifer’s eyes widened in surprise.

“While many of our brethren followed after you when Michael threw you from heaven, you fell alone.” Castiel’s voice wavered with emotion. “I was there. I saw you beg Michael for mercy, but there was no forgiveness in his heart.”

“No, there wasn’t.” Lucifer’s face momentarily lost its cockiness. “So you're here to bear witness for him?”

“And for you as well.”

Shock blossomed over Lucifer’s face. “For me?”

“I cannot bear the thought of you falling by yourself again.”

“But I’m not going to--”

Castiel tackled him, catching Lucifer mid-chest and causing both of them to plunge into the abyss.

As they fell, Castiel finally understood what Dean had meant by being there for his brother. Wrapping himself around his brother, the Morningstar, Castiel whispered his assurances over and over again. “It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m here. I’m not going to leave you. I’m not going to leave you.”

-End-


End file.
